Bad weather did not prevent Indian Rocks Christian from securing a 14-6 win over their 2A District 5 rivals, Carrollwood Day, on Friday night.The game was nearly postponed by thunderstorms before finally beginning about an hour past the scheduled start time of 7:30 p.m.
According to Golden Eagles head coach Mark Buchanan, they did not want a repeat from last season when the Patriots won 28-22 after a second half rally.
"We came out to the game tonight trying to throw more passes and try to move the football,” said Buchanan. “Last year's game came down to the last few minutes of the game and so did this one, and on a night when we were not on our best, it's nice to still know that our kids fought well."
For running back Theo Anderson, they were told to come to the game ready and hungry to win.
"Coach told us to not think about last week’s SPC loss and just come out and play as hard as we did in practice," said Anderson. "Without our defensive line, we couldn't have done anything tonight. (Buchanan) told us just to attack, attack, attack.”
The first half was scoreless, as both teams had repeated failed field goal attempts. Nazir Achecar on the Patriots would get an interception in the Golden Eagles' end zone 43 seconds before the end of the half.
The Golden Eagles would score first when Anderson gained 47 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Kicker Clark Sullivan would get the extra point to take a 7-0 lead in the third quarter.
Running back Elias Early responded with a 24-yard touchdown for the Patriots, but Stephen Yaffe missed the extra point so the Golden Eagles held a 7-6 edge.
Later, Damian King would break away for 73 yards for a Golden Eagles touchdown to put the game away.
Indian Rocks Christian (1-1) will be facing off against Admiral Farragut at home. Carrollwood Day (0-2) will be facing off against Shorecrest Prep at home.